Craft distilleries are hot, and nobody knows that more than the world's macro spirits producers. At this summer's Tales of The Cocktail festival, held annually in New Orleans, a number of well-known distilling companies debuted new, upscale expressions of brands that once languished as bottom-shelf booze. If you enjoy mixing up a Manhattan or a martini at home, these three new products might be of particular interest.

Booth's Finest Dry Gin: John Booth first distilled his namesake spirit 275 years ago in London. The popularity of his oak-rested gin grew and was said to be a favorite of the Queen Mother. But the rise of vodka in the mid-20th century led drinkers to prize clear spirits that were thought to be more clean and pure. Booth's Finest Dry Gin, with its distinctive straw-colored hue, began to fall out of favor. The company tried to capitalize on this trend by creating a second gin line, Booth's High & Dry, that dispensed with the casks and raised the proof, but the brand's popularity continued to decline.

By 2006, production of both Booth's Finest Dry Gin and Booth's High & Dry had come to an end in London. The only remnant of the brand today, Booth's London Dry Gin, is actually produced outside Chicago at Diageo's Plainfield distillery and sold in plastic jugs for less than $25.

That's set to change soon with a revived expression of Booth's Finest Dry Gin. This new bottling will once again contain gin rested in sherry oak casks, restoring its familiar yellow hue. Distillation of the revived spirit will return to the U.K., where it will be bottled at 90 proof, just like its less-expensive sibling.

Booth's Finest Dry Gin will carry a retail price of $42 and should pop up in your favorite liquor stores this fall.

Pikesville Straight Rye Whiskey: We generally associate America's whiskey production with Kentucky, so you might be surprised to know there was a time when most of the country's rye whiskey was produced in Maryland.

Rye whiskey traces its roots to the Northeast, and early production was centered in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Rye's popularity took a hit when Prohibition and then World War II caused production to halt. As thirsty Americans turned to Canadian whiskey out of necessity, the habit stuck.

Kenney Marlatt / Chicago Tribune

Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino Vermouth and Martini Riserva Speciale Ambrato Vermouth on display at Martini & Rossi's Cafe Torino during the Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans.

Pikesville was the last surviving brand of the Maryland rye whiskeys. Its parent company ended rye distillation in the 1970s and eventually sold the Pikesville name and recipe to Heaven Hill. The large whiskey producer, known for Elijah Craig and Evan Williams bourbons, kept the brand alive as Pikesville Supreme Straight Rye Whiskey, an 80-proof budget brand sold only in Maryland but now distilled in Kentucky.

After languishing in obscurity, the Pikesville name is making a top-shelf return as Pikesville Straight Rye Whiskey. This expression is aged longer (six years) and bottled stronger (110 proof) than both its down-market sibling and Heaven Hill's midpriced Rittenhouse Rye, which shares a similar mash bill, the ingredients used in distilling. Pikesville Rye will continue to be distilled in Kentucky, at the company's Bernheim Distillery.

Chicago is one of four cities getting the first crack at Pikesville Rye ($50), and it is available in stores now. The whiskey will go on sale nationwide later this fall.

Martini Riserva Speciale vermouths: Booth's gin will make a fine martini, and Pikesville rye would be excellent in a Manhattan, but those cocktails are nothing without a quality vermouth. Enter Bacardi's Martini & Rossi brand, the ubiquitous purveyors of inexpensive vermouths found in supermarkets across the country. The company is now setting its sights on the craft spirits market with two new expressions in the vermouth di Torino style.

Martini's new Riserva Speciale line will include a bright, herbaceous Rubino made with Italian holy thistle and red sandalwood as well as a floral Ambrato variant made with yellow cinchona bar and rhubarb. The two are bottled at 18.5 percent alcohol, slightly higher proof than their more familiar versions, and use 100 percent Italian wines.

The vermouths will be about $15 each, making them a little more expensive than most mass-market brands but slightly below many craft vermouths that have recently gained popularity. Both expressions of the Riserva Speciale line will go on sale in select cities later this year.